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OK so I'm going to apologize in advance for the long post. Charlie hid one of his chews outside on the patio and I didn't want it to attract bugs/mice or anything so my SO tried to find it...I guess he got close to the hiding spot and Charlie attacked him. I screamed Charlie's name and we managed to get him in the house and into the downstairs bathroom, with him still growling. I rushed my SO to the emergency room, he had about 20 puncture wounds on his arm. There was literally blood all over the house.
This happened out of no where. I'm still so in shock. First the dog aggression a couple months ago and now this. I don't know what happened...and he's had the thyroid panel and everything the vet could think of to run, everything was normal, not even a low normal, completely normal. This is a dog that bonded so well with my SO that we joke Charlie loves him more than me I just can't even believe he's my dog anymore...because my Charlie would never do this
I just dropped him off at a trainer (who specializes in aggression) and I trust the trainer, but he has to be boarded there for 3 weeks! He is 7 and he's never ever been boarded. I mean he's an anxious dog, I have a hard enough time keeping his poop normal (solid) at home for goodness sake! I'm so conflicted between worrying about him and hating him, I don't know what to think. The attack was something strait out of old yeller, and I never believed that dogs turn on people, I always thought there was a reason, but I don't know what I believe anymore. Where did I go wrong and did I do the right thing by leaving him to be trained? As I left the training place, I could hear him crying and howling from his kennel in the back
Oh that sounds awful. I hope your SO is doing ok. I haven't any experience in aggression in dogs, so I'm sorry I can't help with any advice. So sorry that all 3 of you are going through this tough time.
You and the SO are the ones who need training or you will never be able to control his behavior. Many dogs are food-aggresive that are otherwise fine.I hope the trainer doesn't use harsh correcitons to break his spirit.
i'm so sorry this happened - it must be really upsetting and scary. but i've got to agree with southern belle - a trainer who doesn't involve the owner in training makes me nervous.
Wow. I've read the OP's post and wondered how I would have handled the situation. Good luck to you as I'm sure it was a terrifying experience for all involved. Hope the SO recovers and that your dog is able to be trained and returned to your family as a healthy, non-aggressive, trusted member.
I quickly scanned your old posts and I see that you've owned this dog for 6 years without much incident until treats were involved with dogs a few months back.
He may not have previously bitten a person, but I'll bet you had more warning signs than you realize. He may have growled when he had a bone. He might have grabbed his bone, or darted and grabbed his bone, whenever someone entered the room or area where his bone was located. These are signs of food aggression that should be taken very seriously.
Out of the blue, my mild mannered labrador started showing those signs of food aggression towards my son. The dog was about 6 or 8 years old when it happened. He would growl a little. He would dart across the room and grab his bone whenever my son entered the room.
We had an animal behavorist come to our house. She got to the bottom of the problem very fast. My son had punished the dog by taking away his bone and putting it up on a shelf. She said you should never take food away from a dog. It makes them aggressive.
The solution to the problem was two-fold. My son was to never take food away from the dog. And my son was to become the person who fed the dog his food at ever meal---filling his dish and giving it to him. She said that the dog needed to learn that my son was the GIVER of food, not the TAKER of food.
Within a few days, everything was perfect. The dog is 14 years old now and he has never showed a sign of food aggression ever since.
You and your SO have clearly been the taker away of food. You admit in your post that you sent the SO to get the chew. That's taking away. And I guarantee you that is the root cause of your problems with this dog.
I think that the trainer who isn't involing the owner won't do any good. You need an animal behavorist to WORK WITH YOU. Your SO needs to be equally involved since he is the person who was attacked.
And don't give the dog bones or rawhides again! He doesn't need them!
I agree that we need training too because obviously we've been doing something wrong...we've always used positive methods, nothing in life is free etc. and this trainer uses positive methods, but he also uses an electronic collar, we actually put the collar on to see how it felt and on the setting they use for dogs, I couldn't feel anything at all, he turned it up for me and it felt like a tap, like someone taping me on the neck with their finger, it didn't hurt and it didn't feel electric or anything. The collar also vibrates, but according to the trainer that actually freaks a lot of dogs out so he doesn't use it. He will spend time with us and Charlie at the end of the 3 weeks and train us. I know that is very important and I want to be trained too.
Listen, I know people are going to fault me for trying a trainer that uses remote/electronic collars. BUT this trainer came very highly recommended AND we have tried all the positive methods, we have tried doing this ourselves and CLEARLY Charlie needs something else. Honestly after this happened when I was rushing my bleeding SO to the hospital there was a part of me that thought Charlie is beyond training and what are we going to do? I looked at him and didn't see my puppy, I don't know what happened to him.
And when I looked at trainers very few of them deal with this kind of aggression. And by that I mean it's one thing to train a dog that has snapped or growled or bit once-- that is not what Charlie did. Charlie bit and kept biting and biting until Chad kicked him and I screamed his name and Chad was bleeding all over the place. That is the scariest thing I've ever seen. Please don't judge me, I know it's probably impossible but please just keep in mind that I'm really trying my best here.
You might have missed my post while you were typing your response.
My advice is for when people see the very first signs of food aggression that you missed.
But I know that I'm spot on target about the root cause of the problem---your taking chews away from the dog.
The fact that you missed the warning signs is why it has escelated to something so severe.
Try to find a behavorist who will work with you, your SO and the dog together.
Charlie has been a little protective of his raw hides when the cat is around, he has growled at the cat, but never with us. OK so assuming that we did miss his warnings; I would have thought that maybe he would have snapped instead of jumping right to attack. I don't think it's food aggression, he is totally fine with us being around when he eats, he's not even a big eater, the trainer said this is resource guarding. He was guarding his chew because he considered it high value, needless to say he won't be getting any more of them, ever.
i'm not suggesting that you try this on your own, just that a trainer who takes your dog away from you for 3 weeks without you at least attending regular training sessions with him during that time probably isn't a good idea. i understand if that's the only option you have in the area - it's hard to find trainers who deal with serious aggression.
the e-collar thing has been discussed to death, i think most people know my opinion on that.
i'd suggest seeing if you can find a suitable trainer here who will work with both you and your dog: Dog Trainer Search . but i understand that you are in a scary and very time sensitive situations and you're doing what you can.
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I just can't even believe he's my dog anymore...because my Charlie would never do this 
